The Children’s Dentistry Specialist

The National Dental Centre of Singapore recommends that every child should have their first dental visit by their first birthday. Through professional consultation, the dentist is able to prevent and anticipate dental problems, rather than treat them.  With dental care being an important component of every family, this advice certainly makes one sit up! 🙂

I have to admit that we never brought our kids to the dentist at such a young age. As new parents, our foremost needs were learning to cope with our new-born, as well as the need to balance our books. When we eventually visited a dentist, we had to further deal with the anxieties our child faced, as they entered a dental clinic.

Recently, we visited a dental clinic at Paragon Level 13 for a periodic dental check-up. All we had to do was email contact@smg.sg and an appointment was set up for us! This is one of the few baby bonuses accredited specialist dental clinic. Being a boutique-styled practice that believes in bringing personalized attention to achieve the most beautiful smile, this dental clinic marries experienced dental specialists together with the latest dental technology.

On this visit, we had an opportunity to consult with Dr Teo, who is one of the few paediatric specialists recognized by the Singapore Dental Council. With his engaging personality and warm smile, the kids instantly felt comfortable with their new physician. The first kids dental visit includes consultation, chair orientation with polishing and fluoride varnish.

This dental clinic comes equipped with the latest dental equipment, and most essentially an overhead television for the kids. As Dr Teo is an expert treating kids, we received good professional dental advice. One of the most interesting things that we learnt from our visit, was that we have been taught to brush our teeth wrongly! 

Yes! You are Not reading this wrong!!!

What have we been taught about brushing our teeth?

Growing up, many parents will remember bringing a tumbler and a tooth brush to school. As we squatted along the drains, we were told to open our mouths, and flick the dirt off our teeth, by using a upward stroke (No downward stroke). Yes! It was not a very natural action, but the dental assistant would insist that this was the best way to brush our teeth. We were supposed to use this brushing method on each teeth for about 20 times on each side of our jaw.

However, the latest research has shown that we have been doing it Wrong!

Yes! Sigh..

Here is what Dr Teo told us:

When brushing, we should first get a soft tooth brush (Throw away your hard and medium toothbrush). Secondly, brushing our teeth, is like how we scrub the floor. We should use a Left, Right, Left, Right movement…No need to flick the toothbrush upwards or downwards at all…

A gentle toothbrush is to ensure that we don’t “over brush” our teeth, and this movement will help ensure that the plaque gets brushed off.

 

 

The 2nd thing we learnt from our consultation, is with regard to the structure of our children’s jaw.

Looking at the jaw structure of the kids, he was able to tell us about potential problems ahead. As Dr Teo is an experienced Paedodontist, he has lots of experience with kids. He told us, that one of the kids may need to have braces or early intervention in the next few years, as her upper jaw was growing faster than her lower jaw. Intervening early means that we could seek treatment earlier.

This is certainly helpful advice. If you are on the lookout for a good dentist that specialises in seeing kids, drop by the dental clinic at Paragon Level 13! 🙂